UNCASVILLE - The good news for the New England Black Wolves is that they sit on top of the Eastern Division going into a 7:30 p.m. game on Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena against the Buffalo Bandits. It doesn’t mean that the coaching staff is even close to being happy.
In reality, it has been a head scratcher of a season so far.
“We keep waiting for the game where we will have a breakout, but until then, it’s managing, it’s trying to figure it out and, a lot of times, it’s trying to figure out the puzzle on the go during a game,” New England coach Glenn Clark said. “We will keep mixing the blender and see if we can get closer to finding that answer.”
The Black Wolves (4-2) made moves coming into the season to strengthen their transition game and improve in the back. With players like Shawn Evans, Kevin Crowley, Kevin Buchanan and Kyle Buchanan, it was thought the offense would be potent this season.
That ‘O’ has been anything but. It has produced an average of 11 goals a game this season and the 66 goals is the least among teams in the National Lacrosse League. Those numbers are atypical of this Black Wolves team and they haven’t added up.
“We’re constantly looking at adding and taking away and finding that proper mix of system, freedom and creativity,” Clark said. “Offensive guys need a certain amount of latitude to be creative - that’s what makes them what they are,”
The Black Wolves coaching staff has continually emphasized the need to play fast and be more active offensively to avoid being too predictable. So far, it has been left to the defense to bail out the offensive unit. That happened in their four wins in which the margin of victory is about two-and-a-half goals.
When that doesn’t happen, the 21-9 defeat the Black Wolves suffered in Toronto on Jan. 27 is a typical result. They have spent the last two weeks sitting on the memory of that and, frankly, it’s not been too pleasant.
“They’re anxious to erase the bad taste in their mouth from Toronto,” Clark said. “They’re excited to get after it. “They have pride. They’re athletes and they weren’t happy with the last result. They are anxious to get out there and prove they can put forward a better effort.”
The team practiced the past two Tuesdays, again having a week off between games. It’s the third time in this young season that the Black Wolves have had a bye week between games and that could lend itself to some of the continuity issues.
“The playing field is level, you can’t complain about that part of it, but ideally, you want to play once a week, get into a rhythm and start establishing your patterns and routines. It has been a little choppy throughout the season,” Clark said.
Last week, Clark said the thought was to have them open their minds and legs.
“We didn’t focus much on specifics, just did some flow and system stuff, to get them running and we could really open up their legs because of the off week,” Clark added. “We work them hard and didn’t focus on much except the here-and-now.”
He then had the players go home and treat last weekend like a game-day weekend with some hard workouts.
“The guys are doing what they can to kind of model and mirror what would be a regular week for them,” Clark said.
This week’s Tuesday practice was much the same, although there was a little more focus on the Bandits.
Buffalo is coming off a win over Rochester last week to raise its mark to 4-3. The Bandits have been sparked by the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NLL draft, Josh Byrne. He scored five goals against the Knighthawks and leads all rookies with 11 goals, 14 assists and 25 points.
“I thought he was (the real deal) when I saw him play in the offseason,” Clark said. “He has all the tools. He’s very athletic, has one of the best first steps in the game right now and has the ability to create and break down defenders one-on-one. He’s a handful. Their offense is clicking.”
